Those of you who know me well know that I’m a diehard They Might Be Giants fan. I’ve been to more than 10 of their concerts. I own all their albums, plus whatever EPs I could get my hands on, plus all their DVDs, and a few assorted t-shirts and a hat. (I also used to have John Linnell’s bottled water, but threw it out because it was probably gross.)
So of course, when I heard that TMBG’s new album, more than a year in production, was coming out on iTunes a month before the CD, I had to download it as soon as Apple would let me. I was worried since I haven’t been impressed with their last two non-kid albums. The Spine and Mink Car both had tracks that I really enjoyed, but a number of turkeys that meant I didn’t listen to the albums in their entirety after a few times through. I’ve listened to the album a few times through now.
What follows is a review of the album from the standpoint of a TMBG fan. If you aren’t a TMBG fan, I probably won’t win you over, and if you’re a casual TMBG fan, you might not get all the references. With all that out of the way, what do we have?
The Else is 13 tracks long, and clocks in at a little over 38 minutes. The album was produced by a combination of Pat Dillett (their long time producer), the Giants themselves, and the Dust Brothers. The Dust Brothers have worked on a number of albums, most notably the Fight Club soundtrack, Tenacious D, and Odelay. The Dust Brothers definitely bring a distinct techno/loop sensibility to this album, with the Giant’s distinctive vocals overlaid.
I’m Impressed
The first song on the album serves as an intro to the sort of song to expect on the album (though the Dust Brothers did not work on this track.) A heavy, rich background beat with Linnel’s voice fighting to be heard over the strong tones.
Take Out the Trash
Cowbell! Some heavy guitar and percussion (with some twists) make this a pretty funky track, with lyrics trying to convince someone to leave a deadbeat boyfriend.
Upside Down Frown
A more subdued track without a lot of the techno-additions. The song sounds a lot like a previous TMBG song, “Save Your Life” . Nothing particularly special, but not a bad background song.
Climbing the Walls
More rock-like than a lot of the tracks on the album. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was one of the tracks off the albums that gets a lot of concert play.
Careful What You Pack
It begins with an extended loop that sounds very “video-gamey” then moves into a smooth song accentuated by xylophone. This track was apparently originally intended for a movie soundtrack, and it sounds like it- it could easily slip into the background of a scene.
The Cap’m
Another track destined for concert-hood, and will probably sound better there.
With the Dark
One of the best tracks from the album. A few lines of expected off-kilter TMBG lyrics placed under some kind of distortion filter, joined by some awesome instrumentation. The whole song builds and builds, moving in between different ways of doing the same beat, and then sharply drops off at the end. Oh, and PIRATES.
The Shadow Government
It seems to be becoming a new staple of every TMBG album: a Flansburgh ballad, with a clever concept, but not terribly interesting music. Think of “I Can’t Hide from My Mind” or “Working Undercover for the Man”. The narrator laments that the Shadow Government doesn’t protect him, even though they’re supposed to be running everything.
Bee of the Bird of the Moth
Lyrically, a chain song like “House at the Top of a Tree” that ends up overlapping with another track. It starts slow, but when the trumpets come in, it gets a lot better, and ends up really enjoyable.
Withered Hope
Probably my favorite track of the whole album. It sounds like the DJ mix of an existing song, but it’s original. A really interesting blend of music that picks up during the chorus and several other times, and where Linnell’s singing blends really well to the song.
Contrecoup
The song written on a bet, according to the TMBW page. Sort of reminds me of “Finished with Lies”, which in turn came from The Beatles’ “Getting Better” with some guitar loops. It uses a number of outdated words in the lyrics, so at least those are pretty interesting.
Feign Amnesia
Quick guitar riffs and solid drums- classic TMBG right here, plus some solid advice for life. Reminiscent of “Prevenge.”
The Mesoptamians
“Road Movie to Berlin” meets The Monkees meets The History Channel? No, that doesn’t work at all. Anyway, a song about a fictional unheard-of band called The Mesoptamians that does remind me of The Monkees theme song in terms of content. TMBG sure do like singing about small-time bands and tours!
The verdict: a very hard album to judge. If I had to compare it to any of their previous albums, it’s most like Factory Showroom. A lot of very enjoyable tracks to listen to, but most of them don’t stand out. In fact, that’s what surprised me the most about this album: a lack of clear “single” that jumps above the rest into the ranks of the Giant song elite. There are a number of songs that I enjoy, but nothing completely catchy or hardcore rocking so as to make the immediate jump into my top playlist (which every other album has managed to make at least one jump into.) I can’t say that only the hardcore TMBG fans should buy it; it actually is a solid album. But it’s very unlike their other albums (it’s very much a Dust Brothers album too), and I can’t say to just download one track that stands out. It really is worth listening to as a whole, so borrow it from a friend or check out the iTunes previews before deciding on it.
The album is out on iTunes now, and the full CD will be released in stores on July 10th. The CD will contain an extra bonus disc of content, which will probably include a lot of songs that I expected to be on the main album, and are more in line with what the fans are used to.
(Thanks to This Might Be a Wiki for lyrics and info.)
Overall a very good review — I know it’s hard to be objective when one is a big fan, I’m in a similar situation myself.
Interestingly, most of the die hard fans seem a bit chill to this album, so far as most reviews I’ve read. I agree with your statement that this album is a bit like “Factory Showroom” inasmuch as it’s a relatively cohesive whole without the jaggedy gear-switching of, say, “John Henry.” It’s not that I think one is any better than the other, but I think the smoother overall flow of their recent albums (from “Mink Car” on) is actually a huge highpoint in their artistic output. I’ve been an enormous fan since ’90, and every album after “Flood” has required a certain period of acclimation where I’m never quite sure if I like it or not because they keep evolving their songwriting, musicianship and production — each album always sounds like THEM, but they don’t usually sound similar to each other. Now as I mature (slightly), I understand that the evolution in TMBG’s music is subtle, not at any whim of fads and trends — I doubt there will be an “all country” album from them, for instance — their innovations are always folded skillfully into their existing mix.
And while I’m on the topic of cohesiveness, I’m sorry that no particular track jumps out at you. I’m a dj and have already earmarked three songs for my show tomorrow. (“The Shadow Government,” “Take Out The Trash,” and “With The Dark”.) Perhaps this one will be the dark horse that grows on you!
N.B. I would not qualify “Shadow Government” as a ballad in terms of speed, structure or content. “Countrecoup” would be the closest to one on the disc.
I agree with the comment that no song really stands out as a single release, and that it is a solid album… but i don’t think just hardcore TMBG fans should get it, i think with this album it implores alot more indie pop and mainstream alternative style (probably due to the Dust Bros producing style), like The Flaming Lips, Beck and others… So I think this album would be enjoyed by a larger audience, but it would be sad to see someone pick up this as their first TMBG experience, love it, get some more albums, and dismiss some of their finer albums such as their self-titled and Flood and think that only The Else as their finest work
MrAnnouncer: You’re right about Shadow Government not sounding like a ballad (in as far as I defined the term in relation to other songs) but the lyrical content reminds me a lot of the songs I list. The tracks you pick for your show are good ones; I’m interested to see what songs are picked up for heavy rotation on the radio.
Justin: The Flaming Lips and (late) Beck is an apt comparison. I’d be tempted to say that this is almost as much a Dust Brothers album as a TMBG album, which would explain why it would have broader appeal.
Thinkin’ Lincoln Guy: You know, you can criticize me here, I won’t get offended 🙂 In my defense, “With the Dark” is Linnell’s favorite track off the album, so I’m not alone!
Hey that would be me. I think “With the Dark” is all over the place and annoying, but you know, still fairly all right. I do agree with you though that Withered Hope is one of the best on the album. As to Linnell’s opinion… well what does he know! 😛
Also has anyone mentioned that the cover art for this album is way sweet?
I think I almost entirely agree with you. I also think there are no “single” songs in the album and theres no song which sticks out to be an amazing classic (although I love Whithered Hope and Contrecoup). My favourite album is still Flood, I could listen to all of that album for days on end.
Totally agree about the cover art. I’m hoping that there’s more of it that comes with the CD.
I’m just listening to the album for the 3rd time, and I’m really trying not to dislike it. I’m a HUGE fan and have been since the late ’80’s. I really liked The Spine, and I agree that this is a very different album. There’s no “Experimental Film,” there’s no “Doctor Worm,” there’s nothing here that sticks in the brain at all, other than maybe the chorus of “The Mesopotamians.” I do like “Contrecoup,” but it really is derivative of “Wearing a Raincoat” and “My Man” and “Montana” and those other classic Linnell wordplay tunes. And I do like “Fake Amnesia,” but it’s really derivative of “Prevenge” and “Unsupervised” and those other rockin’ little Flansburgh tunes.
The thing that’s really unusual for me about this album is that it’s the first time since “Factory Showroom” that I’ve gotten a TMBG release without having heard any of the songs beforehand. Granted, “Mink Car” was problematic in that regard, since there were much better versions of the songs that came out before the record was made, but I thought with “The Spine” they got it right, giving us enough of a taste to make the whole album really enjoyable. This time around, we got a taste of “Why Did You Grow a Beard” etc… and the album went off in a whole other direction.
I think once I get used to the Dust Bros. feel and dig deeper into the lyrics, I’ll start to like “The Else” better. Till then, I’m just trying not to be bummed out by the whole messy thing.
I was also very surprised not to see “Why Did You Grow a Beard” specifically. My guess is that we’ll see most of the tracks we were expecting as the bonus material in the full CD release.
I gotta say I think you guys are crazy. Upside Down Frown has been stuck in my head all day, as good as any of my favorite TMBG tracks. Alternating with that have been Climbing the Walls and I’m Impressed. I think this album has a lot of stand-out tracks. It probably has about the same number of tracks I’m indifferent to as The Spine did.
I was also surprised not to see Why Did You Grow A Beard.
This album is produced to the max. I think that is what makes it hard to digest. The “song” part of the song is masked to a degree. I think the album is a strong effort, but I agree it is tough to latch on to individual songs and love them like on some of the other albums. Part of it might be lyrics (less quirky and bubble gummy) and part might be the production filter. I don’t think this is an accessible album for non-fans, but I do think it is a grower for fans. Also, when the album ends, I feel like it is too short. Another five songs or so would have added to my personal satisfaction. That is why I’ll be purchasing the physical CD also.
“There are a number of songs that I enjoy, but nothing completely catchy or hardcore rocking so as to make the immediate jump into my top playlist ”
Oh, MAN do I ever disagree with this statement! There are TWO songs on this album that are the clear winners in my book — The Cap’m and especially The Mesopotamians. The Mesopotamians is the single best TMBG song I’ve heard since ‘Man, It’s So Loud in Here’. (Vancouver off of ‘Venue Songs’ comes pretty close)
Of course this reviewer and I were in disagreement from the start. He also says that he wasn’t impressed with Mink Car or The Spine. I loved both AND Mink Car replaced Factory Showroom as my absolute favorite TMBG album.
I think you nailed it Roger: the production masks the “song” part, which at first makes me feel like there’s not much of a song there. As I listen more, the actual John&John goodness begins to emerge. I’m still feeling like the lyrics are very random and not as (dare I say it) clever as what I expect from TMBG.
The fact that the album is short is probably incentive to buy the CD version in July. I always find it funny when an album is 13 songs and feels “short.” Before CD’s were around, the longest single albums were 46 minutes long. At 38 minutes, it’s half of a single CD, but it’s almost all of what used to be an “album” (a 33 rpm vinyl record, for you youngins).
I think this is quite a good review. I have listened to the album about 10 times now and I ‘hear’ more of it each time. I agree with Roger that it will be a grower. Many of my favourite TMBG songs are off their EPs and singles such as Ondine, Sensurround, Mrs Train, Memo to Human Resources and Reprehensible. Therefore I’m expecting many of their best songs to be on the bonus disc. I think when we have both albums, it will feel more complete as a whole with some more familiar TMBG sounds.
I have to definitely pick this up. I haven’t looked into anything new from them since “The Spine” because it sorely dissapointed me.
The reviewer mentioned that Upside Down Frown sounds like “Save Your Life” and I’m trying to wrack my brain to figure out what TMBG song this is? Is that really a title of a TMBG song and, if so, what album/EP/single is it from?
To comment on Flansburgh & Linnell songwriting, I think I heard Linnell described as something like a ‘Melody Machine’. When I hear quite a few songs by Flansburgh I’m sometimes initially deflated because he seems to go for such a straightforward rock take. Actually, Flans has written many great songs, some of which have wonderful melodies and sounds (Don’t I have the Right? off Mono Puff’s Unsupervised, for example – I assume he wrote it, or Reprehensible). But the Shadow Government strikes me as the former and doesn’t do much for me. Maybe it’s Linnell’s amazing ability to write such songs that sometimes make Flans songs seem too ‘straightforward’.
But I think in the end they play off each other’s styles well. Perhaps Flans prevents Linnell from going way to esoteric (although Contrecoup is getting there!) and Linnell shaping some of Flans’ songs a bit more towards the melodic genius?
In any case, the wife & I really enjoy the Else, especially compared to the Spine and while some are standing out for me: Withered Hope, Climbing the Walls, Careful What You Pack, Upside down Frown, the whole album is pretty solid and very enjoyable to listen to straight through instead of having to pull out a few singles and skipping others like XTC vs Adam Ant or Mr Xcitement (wife can’t stand it!).
Save Your Life details at the TMBG Wiki.
–The Reviewer